Introducing the new Son Of Chi album 'We Carry Eden'. Invited by Orb Magazine to make a podcast that reflects the sources, the inspiration and deeper layers behind the 'We Carry Eden' album. 

Hanyo van Oosterom aka Son Of Chi:

"I just started sampling and editing music I was listening to lately. I mixed them with samples from 'We Carry Eden' and also from a few ongoing projects I'm working on. Somehow it all easily came together. I just let the music find me and tried not to get involved too much. 
Or as the American poet Robert Lax said (also featured on 'We Carry Eden'): "You have to put yourself in a position where grace can flow to you". 

It has been an exiting trip to work on this mix. Hope you will enjoy. This collage is not for sale and will not be released. All rights belong to the original artists. It represents storytellers, messengers, passengers in time and sonic travelers, known and unknown, from all times, cultures and disciplines. It's a message of love and respect for all of them that dedicate and dedicated their lives to create harmony and beauty in this world of changes.

Tracklisting:
1. 
Field rec + Andre 3000 (edit) + Francis Bebey (voc edit)
2. 
Ursula Rucker & Tim Motzer (edit) + Sun Ra (voc edit)
3. 
Civilistjävel (edit) + Kain The Poet (voc edit, preview) + Arthur Flink trumpet samples (5th World Recordings) + Field rec
4. 
Chi Arch samples + Andreas Kallatzis (voc edit, Patmos)
5. 
Field rec + Frederico Durand (edit) + 
Son Of Chi & Radboud Mens samples (preview)
6. 
Opiate + Einstein (voc edit) + Chi Arch samples + Field rec
+ Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort 
7. 
Toki Fuko (edit) + Soko (voc edit)
8. 
Field rec + Polygonia/Popp (edit) + Dunya Younes (voc edit)
9. 
Field rec + Jonny Nash (edit) + Robert Lax (voc edit) + Chi Arch samples
10. 
Jon Hassell (edit) + Sun Ra (voc edit)
11. 
Ariel Kalma (edit) + Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort + 
Omar Ka (voc edit)
12.
Jon Hassell (edit) + Arvo Pärt (edit) + Hopi Elder Radford Quamahongnewa (voc edit) +Field rec 
13.
Drumming Birds (Lokal Affair Remix) + Krishnamurti (voc edit) + 
Radboud Mens drone
14.
Suso Saiz (edit) + HLM 38 (edit) + Robert Lax (voc edit) +
Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort 
15.
Drones (Chi Archives) + Clara Brea & Menhir (preview of Son Of Chi remixes) +
Fountain Hughes (voc edit, taken from Voices Remembering Slavery)
16.
Formant Value (edit) + Mira Calix (edit)  + Anoushka Shankar (edit)  + 
Kain The Poet (voc edit, preview)
17.
Chi Arch samples + Inayat Khan (voc edits)
18.
Field rec + Monolake (edit) + Delia Derbyshire (voc edits)
19.
Fieldrecordings + Claire Rousay (edit) 
20.
Ula (edit) + Claire Rousay (voc edit) 
21.
Tricky (edit) + Marta (voc edit) + Robert Fripp (guitar edit)
22.
Dronebeat by Raboud Mens & Son Of Chi (preview) + Daniel Lanois guitar fills (edit)+ Field rec + Sakamoto (voc edit + Sakamoto piano samples (edit)
23.
Shards(edit) + Lenta Remix by Son Of Chi (preview) + Shards (voc edits) +
Samples from the Samsara movie (sound + voc edits) + Field rec
24.
Sakamoto remix by Son Of Chi +  Hopi prayer by Thomas Banyacya (voc edit)
25.
Chi Arch samples + Field rec + Trumpet samples by Arthur Flink (5th World Recordings)
26.
Pitched down John Hassell loop + Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort + samples of ‘Be With Me Jesus’ by the Angola Quartet (voc edit)
27.
Chi Arch samples + ‘Love After Love’ by Derek Walcott (voc edit), read by Linton Kwesi Johson + Omar Ka (voc edit)
28.
Field rec + Chi Arch samples + Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort + Robert Lax (voc edit)

Fieldrecordings by Koos van der Vaart, Chi Archives, Felix Blume (Freesound)
More info:
https://chifactory.bandcamp.com/
https://www.musicfrommemory.com
https://www.orbmag.com

Please make sure to visit the websites of all the artists in this collage and support their work in any possible way. One love!

Orb Collage 'We Carry Eden'

You can now order the vinyl Music From Memory album:
https://chifactory.bandcamp.com/album/we-carry-eden-feat-omar-ka
 
Music From Memory is delighted to announce a new album from Son Of Chi entitled ’We Carry Eden’, an immersive long-form composition in two parts that seamlessly blends a collage of spoken word, field recordings and drones with elements of dub, jazz, fourth world and ambient music. 

Son Of Chi is the latest project of Rotterdam-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Hanyo van Oosterom. Van Oosterom’s prolific career spans multiple decades and genres; among countless projects he has been involved in, he is known for founding the Dutch ambient collective CHI in the early eighties, and in recent years for his prolific collaboration with CHI co-founder Jacobus Derwort as Chi Factory. Following Derwort’s passing in 2019, van Oosterom decided to close the CHI circle with the birth of Son Of Chi. 

Sonically, the world of ‘We Carry Eden’ is fully immersive; it ripples with depth and shimmers in detail. Motifs, ideas and fragments, arise and disappear like passing thoughts, drawing the listener deeper and deeper inwards. For those familiar with Oosterom’s work as Chi Factory, the depth and meditative nature of the work will come as no surprise; however it is Oosterom’s skill with grooves that shines equally bright here; his infectiously dubby basslines and percussion rise up from the ether, grounding the listener to the earth. ‘We Carry Eden’ at times invokes the fourth world landscapes of Jon Hassell, (with whom Oosterom has collaborated) but as a whole, it remains the unique work of an artist fully in tune with their vision. 

Thematically, storytelling traditions lie at the heart of ‘We Carry Eden’, with van Oosterom’s long-time collaborator Omar Ka playing a central role. Ka, who hails from the West African nomadic Fulani tradition of storytelling, responds to the collage of field recordings and sounds collected by Oosterom. His voice is woven throughout ‘We Carry Eden’, creating a narrative that binds the multiple sound sources of the album together. 

As with much of van Oosterom’s musical output, inspiration is drawn from the Greek Island of Patmos and the wisdom and prophecies of the Native American Hopi Tribe. Since his work with CHI in the early eighties, van Oosterom has often incorporated quotes from Hopi Elders into his music. Gods, spirits, animals and humans, all existing in one unchangeable relationship tied to nature; ‘We Carry Eden’ is rooted in this philosophy, serving as a peaceful message of beauty, harmony and respect for the wisdom of the Elders and ancient traditions. 

‘We Carry Eden’ has been released on LP and digitally on May 16th 2025. Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.

We Carry Eden Part Two

I Invite you to listen to this preview of my live set at Plex Athens on June 19th, presenting the "We Carry Eden" album. 

It starts with a loop from my Sakamoto Tribute live set at Mostra Barcelona (2023). You will hear samples from “Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep” (Mary Elizabeth Frye), read by Tom O'Bedlam. I added  vocal samples by Dunya Yunis. You might know her from the “My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts” album by Brian Eno and David Byrne. The fieldrecordings are from the Kallikatsou (Patmos) by Ioannis Nikolaou.

As always when i prepare a live set i make loops and collect samples. This time i sampled from some artists i connected to on instagram. The basic scape for the 2nd movement (3.00 min) comes from Eirini Zacharaki from Athens who sent me her 1st ever electronic noise experiment. I also added a rhythm loop from a track by an artist called Zebra (Alexis Georgopoulos). 

The direction and theme for this live set came (as usual) unexpected when i saw a post on instagram where Richard Gere reads the poem “Think Of Others” by the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (scroll down for the complete text). These dark days we live in you wonder what you could actually do. The answer comes with this poem (taken from a live poetry reading of Darwish:

“As you think of others far away, think of yourself and say: If only I were a candle in the dark”.

At 5.30 min Omar Ka joins this preview. He does the Fulani storytelling (and chanting) on the We Carry Eden album. He also introduces the next piece (6.30 min). The music comes from a bonus track of the “Seven Years At The Chi Factory” CD i recently released. The vocal is by the American poet Robert Lax, who lived the 2nd part of his life on Patmos, Greece. He also opens the We Carry Eden album saying:

“You have to have the habit of working on the project all the time and then the good moments come along  by themselves, as happy surprises and as graces, but eh, so you put yourself in a eh, in a place where grace can flow to you”.

At 08.20 min we move into a preview of a new album i’m working on with Radboud Mens (to be released by Music From Memory in 2026 TBA). First Mahmoud Darwish returns with: “Say: If only I were a candle in the dark”.

Then ( at 9.20 min) you hear the voice of Richard Gere (who also used to live on Patmos) reciting an English translation of “Think Of Others”. 

Finally (at 10.40 min) we return to the Kallikatsou. The music comes from my album “The Kallikatsou Recordings”. The vocals are taken from a Youtube video by a young Palestinian girl Rahaf Nasser, using her passion for music to comfort the traumatized children on the streets of Gaza. 

It's all about being a "Candle In The Dark". The preview closes (again) with field recordings from The Kallikatsou, Patmos by Ioannis Nikolaou who run the Underflow Record Store in Athens the last years. Recently he sadly passed away, so this mix is also a tribute to him. The spoken word in the outro is by his good friend Spyro Papanastassiou.

All we can do is keep spreading love, peace, hope and comfort. To respect, protect and preserve truth and stand strong in unity. One love!

"Think of Others" by Mahmoud Darwish, translated by Mohammed Shaheen

As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
Do not forget the pigeon's food
As you conduct your wars, think of others
Do not forget those who seek peace
As you pay your water bill, think of others
Those who are nursed by clouds
As you return home, to your home, think of others
Do not forget the people of the camps
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
Those who have nowhere to sleep
As you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others
those who have lost the right to speak
As you think of others far away, think of yourself and say: 
If only I were a candle in the dark

Join us in Athens:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1813791775862552/
Listen to 'We Carry Eden'
https://chifactory.bandcamp.com/album/we-carry-eden-feat-omar-ka

A Candle In The Dark (preview of a live set)

Not available on Spotify or similar rip-off platforms. Only on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. Hopefully on vinyl one day. 

Now on Bandcamp for €3 or 'pay what you like' digital download:
https://chifactory.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-the-body-of-earth

Recorded on a farm in Rotterdam (Kralingseweg 393). Released on limited cassette in 1987 (100, sold out). Solo recordings by Hanyo van Oosterom (Chi Factory, Son Of Chi) on 4-track cassette (Tascam 234 Syncaset). Originally recorded as sketches for a new CHI album.

All instruments by Hanyo van Oosterom: Roland Juno 60, Ensoniq Mirage sampler, Roland SVC-350 vocoder, damped piano, bells, bass, guitar, bamboo flutes, percussion, field recordings. 

Original final mix by Jurgen Brouwer. Remastered and remixed by Hanyo van Oosterom in 2025. All rights reserved. 

Inspired by the novel 'By The Body Of The Earth' by Satprem. A book of the voyage of the soul, which others call reincarnation, a perpetual story which unfolds itself in three cycles or three lives, three islands which are situated in "this land here or any other", apparently in India, Egypt and the frozen lakes of Norway. 

The main charcter - Nil - always in quest of "something else". A new state upon earth for man, free from mechanism and the laws of the mind, who had cast away all for this, given up the world for that of a mendicant Sannyasin. 

After a long and sometimes hard journey he finally discovers a vaster, cosmic consciousness and new perceptions, but finally he realises that he had perhaps gained the freedom of the heights, but lost the earth. 

Find out more: 
chifactory.bandcamp.com 
www.instagram.com/hanyo_sonofchi 

Satprem 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satprem

Artwork: collage by Hanyo van Oosterom, sampled from photos on pexels by: 
征宇 郑, Ahmedadly, Lucastranimages, Mati, Mingche-lee, Shkrabaanthony, Mikhailnilov and Manhpham. 
www.pexels.com

Music From The Body Of Earth

Bandcamp exlcusive EP Flying Dutchman (1999-2001) compilation from the Chi Factory back catalogue. All revenues will be invested to finance future releases by Chi Factory Recordings. See credits for the artwork (incl limited HQ download). 
Not available on Spotify or any other rip off platforms.

Download and support Chi Factory Recordings here:
https://chifactory.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-zen-radio-ep
Thx so much!

Artwork by Tora Mudadu (La Creatora). Live painting made during an impro of Son Of Chi with the Zebra Zulu Quartet.

Hanyo: Tora used inspiration from the Kallikatsou interview for this painting. At my heart you see me sitting at the cave of the Kallikatsou. At the right you see 'Pat', the yawning cat of Andreas Kallatzis. Also you see Manolis with his fishing boat (in my glass of wine).

If you pay 07.00 euro or more you will get a HQ PDF of the artwork (vinyl size) that you can print on carton, canvas or any material.

Find out more about Tora Mudadu:
www.facebook.com/LaCreaTora
Watch the Kallikatsou interview:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUDOs3EwlmQ

Music For Zen Radio EP

Founder of CHI (1984) and the Chi Factory (2016). Member of Soundcloud since August 2023. Performing, recording, producing 
as Son Of Chi since 2020.

Find out more on future Son Of Chi releases on instagram and Astral Industries.

The Chi Factory has performed live at festivals like Signal Russia, Rewire The Hague, Intrinsic France, Berlin Atonal, Astral Industries Weekender, Off Sonar, La Nature, Mostra Barcelona and more. Hope to see you soon live.

For special Chi Factory live events, licensing, remixes etc you can contact: hanyo@ziggo.nl

This track is not available anymore.

Other tracks from Son Of Chi